The smell help!!

[chickengeorgeto]

The obnoxious smell from a flock of chickens is almost always from ammonia produced in their droppings. This is usually an indication that you are feeding to much protein and the excess protein is being excreted in your chickens manure and the excess nitrogen is combining with water in the environment to produce that burn your nose and eyes ammonia smell.

 

[Natrgrl326]

I'm having some odor issues as well. coop was built on an area where we'd chipped an old pine tree stump. Added shavings , DE, and raked regularly, but it smells like something died. As I raked up the ground I realized the dirt/pine chips below are very wet, perhaps not drying. Not sure how far down I need to dig to literally get to the bottom of it. Also tricky to do the "deep fill" method because I can't build it up that deep....it just comes through the chicken wire at the bottom. Hmmmm...I'll keep at it

 

[aart]

I'm having some odor issues as well. coop was built on an area where we'd chipped an old pine tree stump. Added shavings , DE, and raked regularly, but it smells like something died. As I raked up the ground I realized the dirt/pine chips below are very wet, perhaps not drying. Not sure how far down I need to dig to literally get to the bottom of it. Also tricky to do the "deep fill" method because I can't build it up that deep....it just comes through the chicken wire at the bottom. Hmmmm...I'll keep at it

Do you have a drainage issue in the area?
Does roof or driveway/sidewalk run off or just run off from slope of surrounding area cause water to gather in run area?
Digging it deeper would only make that worse.

Shavings(the baled kind from farm store) aren't really enough, and DE does nothing.
You need larger wood chippings (like from tree trimmers) as a base then add in other smaller dry plant materials.

I lined my 2x4 mesh walls with 1/2" hardware cloth(2' high) to keep my deepish litter(and tiny chicks) inside the run.

 

[Coop Z-ville]

Thanks for all the great replies! My under-the-coop area stays fairly dry with sand as a floor, but during this hot, humid weather we've been having in central Indiana, it does have a slight odor. We had a hot, though less humid, and breezy day earlier this week, and there was absolutely no smell at all. No problems inside the coop, so just wondering if it is the weather/sand/shade. The coop is next to some woods, which I don't think smell so fresh in this kind of weather either-hottest summer I can remember in this area for many years! I might try some straw under there to see if that helps.